Chapter Four
I can’t feel my body or move. The only things working are my eyes but it’s dark.
Where am I? I feel like I’m underwater. My vision is blurry, and my ears are ringing.
My surroundings are trying to come into focus slowly.
I see a man, he is staring at me with huge, bloodshot eyes and his mouth is wide open in a silent scream.
There is a feeling in the back of my mind like I should be scared but I’m not.
I smile, a sense of excitement flooding my mind and body, and I realize I have started shaking and swaying.
I take a step back, all of my senses coming into sharp focus.
I take a few more steps backward until I feel darkness start to swallow my body, my eyes never leave the red eyes of the other.
He takes the same steps forward almost in sync with me.
I look to the side and all I see is the most inviting darkness.
I’m outside. I look back to the man, and I can now see he is standing at a window looking outside. He wants out and I want in.
A gasp breaks out of me as I’m jolted awake.
Adrenaline and terror are coursing through my newly awake body.
I try to shake the feeling along with my disorientation; the dream is already escaping my mind faster than I can lock in the details.
The only thing I know for sure was the man in the window looked like Luke.
I glance over to his side of the bed and there he is, still sound asleep.
I’m instantly comforted by his presence and so I let the dream sink into my subconscious.
I lean over and kiss his shoulder. “I’m going to go make us some coffee.
I’ll be right back,” I whisper. He doesn’t move or say anything.
Luke is a light sleeper which means he must be exhausted, so I decide to let him keep sleeping as I get a head start on our day.
I sneak out of the room as quietly as I can, slowly and carefully closing the door.
As it softly clicks shut, I hear… scratching, I think.
What is that? I follow the noise down the hallway, heading toward the stairs.
I stop when I hear it coming from that strange, empty room.
Of course it is. The moment my hand touches the doorknob, the scratching stops, which makes me hesitate.
What is wrong with this house? I take a deep breath and turn the knob, the door swings open and just like last night, it’s still empty and still creepy.
But this time the singular window in the room is wide open, the freezing air flooding inside.
It’s so like Luke to open a window and then forget about it.
I wonder what creatures he let in here overnight as I march over and close the window with a thud.
The draft causes the door to slam shut behind me.
My heart skips a beat, my hand flying to my chest, and I chuckle.
It’s official, I could never live in the woods. I just woke up and I’m already on edge. Once my heart rate slows back down, I refocus on the mission at hand– go downstairs and make coffee.
After twenty minutes of rummaging and silent cursing I find everything I need either in the kitchen or in Luke’s hiking backpack. I’m able to make the world’s most mediocre cup of coffee.
When I first got downstairs, I remembered our groceries in the backseat of the car and was worried they got left out there all night but as I scan the kitchen, I see various things we bought sitting out.
Luke must have remembered to unpack them.
What would I do without that man? I was uncomfortably close to having to survive on the camping food.
As I turn around to go back upstairs, Luke comes around the corner, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
“Good morning. I smell coffee. You aren’t supposed to make your own sustenance this week.
” He wags his finger at me before grabbing one of the cups and taking a sip.
He coughs. “How many scoops did you use?”
“Why?” I ask, looking him dead in the eyes as I put my hands on my hips.
He laughs. “Well, I think it’s closer to jet fuel than coffee at this potency.
Don’t get me wrong! I love it! We might not even need to sleep for the rest of the trip.
Our efficiency is going to be out of this world.
” He gives me a cheeky smile before taking another drink and walks over to me.
He sets his cup down before picking me up and setting me on the counter.
“This stuff is magic. I can feel my virility going up.” He kisses up my arm to my shoulder then neck which he knows tickles.
My giggles quickly turn into an unattractive, wheezing cackle as I attempt to push him away. He doesn’t seem to register or care.
“Stop! Luke, I swear to God I will start punching and kicking!” I screech while continuing to try and get away from him. He stops abruptly and looks at me with wild eyes, his hair sticking up all over. “I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet. Get away,” I tease while shooing him away.
“Just drink the rest of that. It’ll kill anything bad you got going on. Bad breath? Gone. Gingivitis? Gone. Flossing? Don’t need to,” he says while pointing to my mug.
“Oh… my… God. This is literally the last time I do anything nice for you,” I say with some extra drama and sass. I jump off the counter and start to walk away, but Luke grabs my arm and pulls me back.
“Oh no, you don’t. We haven’t had breakfast yet,” he says with a wink, softly grabbing the back of my neck and pulling my lips to his.
He tastes like coffee and a hint of peppermint.
Bastard brushed his teeth. I don’t even try to resist, instead I fully sink into him.
Nobody has ever kissed me the way he does and I can’t get enough.
I wrap my arms around his neck as he picks me up and carries me over to the dining room table, placing me on it gently.
Passion has always been as easy as breathing for Luke and me.
He is an expert with my body, knowing all the right places to touch, every need I have before I even know, leaving me hungry and satisfied at the same time.
It’s not one of the times that’s slow, drawn out and romantic; he pushes me down, so my back is lying on the dining room table, not wasting a moment before he is yanking my underwear off.
My nerves are already on fire, and I know that it’ll be only moments for climax to find me.
We somehow find ourselves lying on the floor after and I’m so high on the afterglow that I can’t remember if I climbed off the table or if he put me down here.
I turn my head towards him, mouthing, “Hi.” He does it back before leaning over and kissing me softly.
Butterflies flutter around my stomach, and I feel an intense wave of gratitude washing over me.
I look back toward the ceiling, my mind starting to come down, more normal thoughts creeping their way in.
After a second or two, I give in. “Luke, not that I want to ruin the moment, but I’ve been trying to find the right time to ask...
does this cabin ever feel weird to you?” I look over at him right as he is glancing back toward me.
“It just feels like an old house. I’ve had so many relatives whose places were like this. Cobwebs and everything. They all, always, feel a little off but in my opinion it speaks more to our human nature then that there is anything actually weird. So long story short... no.”
“It just... I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it and I’m trying to be tough… but this place gives me a bad feeling.” Luke reaches out, laying his hand on my cheek softly.
“Babe, I wouldn’t let you stay somewhere if I thought it was dangerous.
If I really felt like something bad could happen, I would be the first to tell us to leave.
I promise. You told me, though, you wanted to step outside your comfort zone and do something you wouldn’t normally do.
You also told me you would try to get out of it and not to let you.
So, this is me reminding you that trying new things is in fact uncomfortable and it takes a little time.
Stay with me.” He gives me a giant, cheesy smile that I can’t help but return.
I slowly nod, not feeling a lot better about it but also knowing he isn’t wrong.
“Okay. I hate it when you make such valid points. Next time... I get to win,” I tease before adding, “So, what now?”
“Now that we have officially christened the house… our real adventure can start,” he says with a wink. “I didn’t tell you last night, but I found something.”
“Why does that feel ominous? What is it?”
“I don’t know exactly. It’s a door but not like a normal door. It’s kind of hidden and… I can’t explain it, but it’s kinda mysterious and fun. This place has some stories to tell and maybe a few secrets. Don’t you want to uncover them?” he asks, standing up and pulling me up after him.
“Sure… but on the way out. Not on the way in. What if it’s something freaky? What if we find a dead body? You need to adopt some of my pessimism– it’ll keep you safe.” Luke hands me my underwear and I slip them back on before my hands are back on my hips, staring at him.
“But what if it’s some good ol’ mountain moonshine?” He says in some kind of incorrect and probably offensive accent. I continue to stare at him, shaking my head in fake disappointment.
“And now you want to blind me? There is a 0% chance I would drink some random liquid from, what I assume, will be a dirty, disgusting dungeon of a basement. Also, in your words, hidden. A HIDDEN, dirty, disgusting dungeon.” I keep staring at him, trying to look as serious as I can.
He puts his hands on my shoulders and leans down to my eye level, amusement all over his face.
“Babe... you have got to live a little.” He grabs my hand and starts pulling me through the dining room to an area of the cabin I haven’t seen yet.
My eyes are immediately drawn to a door that’s wide open.
There is a small, dim light on in the dining room, just enough to be able to see the first few, weathered wooden stairs.
The kind that you could break an ankle walking down, not level or even the same size, and they’re steep.
They are also the type of stairs that turn sharply halfway, so I can't see all the way down.
The walls are dirty and look like they have been repaired several times with random boards.
Mismatched puzzle pieces with entire sections missing altogether, leaving a few dark holes that are almost tempting to reach into.
“Luke, did you seriously leave this door open last night? Isn’t it an unwritten rule to never leave a basement door open?” I ask, holding onto his hand a little tighter.
He laughs. “You are so cute when you’re paranoid. What do you think is going to happen with a door to an enclosed basement being open?”
“Listen, you have a track record. You already left the window in that creepy room upstairs open all night, letting some kind of raccoon or squirrel in. Don’t give me that look, I heard scratching and now…
probably at least a few evil spirits from the basement.
” I put as much angst into the last few words as I could, as I try to hide my amused smile.
“But seriously, this already looks really scary. If I don’t fall down the stairs and injure myself then I’m…
let me rephrase, WE will be walking away with, best case scenario, some light mold poisoning.
Worst case scenario… possessed. You’re telling me it’s worth either of those risks?
” I look over at him, attempting to stare some sense into his soul.
“There’s probably a water heater down there,” he adds. I let my arms fall to my side and groan before looking toward the basement again.
“You should have led with that.”